My Life In full - Indra Nooyi

95th of 2021 was My Life In full by Indra Nooyi. Through her various interviews that I have watched on TV and online I admired her power of storytelling having read about her and many controversies, glad that we can read her view all here. Can't Thank her enough for this. 

Three things helped her achieve her dreams, her passion and action, support from family both parents and spouse and her energy with just needing 5 hours of sleep everyday during her journey from Chennai to Calcutta and then to Connecticut to Chicago and back travelling all around the world. She generously credits many mentors and her supporters though out her career at Meetur Beardsell in Madras, J&J Bombay, Yale SOM program, BCG consultancy work, ABB, Motorola and later PepsiCo. The hard work, passion, attention to details, strategic perspective, were brilliantly narrated along with the various assignments in detail, and you can’t but be impressed with her ability to ask the right questions and integrate diverse disciplines. Design thinking she narrates is very relevant and a lot to learn.

Indra Nooyi talks about Performance with Purpose, and that those two elements can co-exist. Nourish humanity and the community in which we live, replenish our environment, and cherish the people in our company with Respect and result. 

PnP: Nourish, Replenish, Cherish.

Some notes to remember are:

"Many young people, worried about how they will manage it all, are choosing not to have children. This could not only have dire economic consequences in the decades to come, but, on a very personal note, I find  this detail sad. With everything I have accomplished, my greatest joy was having children, and I wouldn't want anyone to miss the experience if they want it.

I believe that we must address the work and family conundrum by focusing on our infrastructure around 'care' with and energy and ingenuity like never before"

"Fundamental role of a leader is to look for ways to shape the decades ahead, not just react to the present, and to help others accept the discomfort of disruptions to the status quo.

"With a can-do sense of optimism and a must-do sense of responsibility, we can transform our society."

"If you take on something, you must give it your all and if you make a promise, keep it" Thatha insisted on reliability and being a life long learner. He said, "The day I stop, my mind will atrophy. And then the body will follow".

Educating girls remains the bedrock of advancing women in our world, although poverty, violence and ancient male-dominated cultures still stand in the way. The benefits are endless. Educated girls and women are healthier, contribute more to the paid economy, and have far fewer children as teenagers themselves. They lead in their communities. 

Work, it's not really optional. And that's good, because the benefits of paid work hardly need review. Humans thrive when they are challenged; they are proud when they've done a job well and gain from being with people who share the same goals. And we all need money to live. 

BCG founder Bruce Henderson, invented the "Growth share matrix" in 1970, the oft taught model that rates businesses as cows, dogs, starts and question marks, depending on their relative market share and growth rate. 

I wonder why I am wired this way where my inner compass always tells me to keep pushing on with my job responsibilities, whatever the circumstances. If I feel that I can help make something better, then I cannot stop myself from jumping in. I have a deep sense of duty and find it very hard to say no if someone asks for help. I love my family dearly, but this inner drive to help whenever I can certainly has taken a lot of time away form them - much to their dismay. I sometimes with I were wired differently.

Being a mom is a full-time job, being a wife is a fulltime job, and being an executive is more than a full-time job. All of it requires constant prioritization and reprioritization, sometimes several times a day. 

Her mother she says was the catalyst for her career and her safety net.  "Asked me to make speeches pretending I was India's prime minister. She also worried about finding me a husband. One foot on the accelerator, one foot on the brake. Go out and capture the crown but leave it in the garage. "

Huge change has no shortcuts. It requires honesty, agility and courage. 

'Good byes are only for those who love with their eyes, Because for those who love with heart and soul, there is no such thing a separation'.

Finally think hard about time. We have so little of it on this earth. Make the most of your days and make the space for the loved ones who matter most. Take it from me. I've been blessed with an amazing career, but if I'm honest, there have been moments I wish I'd spend more time with my children and family. So, I encourage you: be mindful of your choices on the road ahead.

 Her trip to South Africa in 2018 was the most memorable in her life. Having heard about the difficult lives of the girls, they only asked hugs from her. 

When-she-received-a-letter-in-this-regard-she-thought-this-was-a-joke-and-asked-her-pr-department-to-take-care-of-this-job-

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/a-feather-in-indra-nooyis-hat-former-pepsico-boss-inducted-in-smithsonians-portrait-gallery/articleshow/72102418.cms

She felt honored to be included in the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery with this painting by artist Jon R. Friedman. From her Thank-You speech:

"I hope that any girl, any person of color, any immigrant, any American who looks at the Jon's creation will not only see a portrait. I hope they will see that anything is possible. And I hope they will find their own way of bringing their spirit and talents to bear on the work of lifting up this country and our world".

While her acknowledgment for many end with the credit to her husband Raj and daughters Preetha and Tara, saying they make her whole, the books begins with a foggy Tuesday in Nov. 2009 being in between Barack Obama and Manmohan Singh, President of US and Prime Minister of India at Washington DC, where PM exclaimed, "Oh! But she is one of us!" and the President, with a big smile and without missing a beat, responded, "Ah, but she is one of us, too!". An unforgettable moment of spontaneous kindness from the leaders of the two great countries that have given so much. 'I belong in both worlds'. 

Noori : Performance with purpose : Nourish humanity and the community in which we live, replenish our environment, and cherish the people in our company with Respect and result.

PnP: Nourish, Replenish, Cherish.

 Cut copy paste, need not reinvent the wheel.